CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera on Friday described the possibility that middle linebacker Luke Kuechly has suffered his second career concussion concerning.After expressing his worry over Kuechlys injury, Rivera quickly added, I dont want to get into the speculation of all of that. Im not the expert.Kuechly was placed in the concussion protocol after he was carted off the field late in the fourth quarter Thursday night of a?23-20 win?over the New Orleans Saints. He appeared to take a helmet-to-helmet hit on a tackle of Saints running back?Tim Hightower.He was in tears as he rode off toward the locker room Thursday night while fans screamed Luuuuke!The picture of Kuechly in tears left an impression on many who saw it, including Carolina players.I get that part, Rivera said. Heres a guy thats a warrior. He loves the game, and it was an emotional time for him, an emotional time for his teammates. His teammates know how important it is to him.Rivera would not speculate on how much time Kuechly might miss. The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year missed three games last season with a concussion suffered in the opener at Jacksonville.Kuechly appeared in much better spirits Friday. Outside linebacker Thomas Davis posted a picture of himself with Kuechly holding his thumb up.Kuechly is the sixth Panthers player to be diagnosed with a concussion during the regular season and the seventh since the preseason. That leads the NFL, with the New York Giants and Washington Redskins tied with five each.Left tackle Michael Oher has missed seven straight games with a concussion, and there is no timetable for his return. Quarterback Cam Newton missed one game with a concussion.Saints quarterback Drew Brees had a message for Kuechly as he left the field Thursday.I tried to let him know that I was going to be praying for him, Brees said. He is ... certainly one of the best football players Ive ever seen and played against. And I hope that hes OK.The Panthers will have 10 days before their next game. Its rare for a player to be cleared from the protocol in seven or fewer days, and because Kuechly previously has suffered a concussion, it could make his recovery longer.After the game, Carolina players obviously were affected by the injury to Kuechly as well as to center Ryan Kalil (shoulder) and defensive end Mario Addison (foot). There was no celebrating in the locker room.We rally behind that guy, Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson said about Kuechly. Hes our leader. When you see a leader go down like that, we just rally behind him. Im keeping Luke in my prayers.Tight end Greg Olsen said the only good thing that came out of the game was the win. He said it was tough seeing the look on Kuechlys face as he was carted off the field.Safety Kurt Coleman was one of several players who mentioned he was praying for Kuechly.It looked like the same exact thing that happened in Jacksonville last year, Coleman said. He was yelling to us to continue to fight. Its remarkable in a sense.Just hoping its precautionary and he will be back sooner rather than later. Thats all I can hope for.Players on offense were impacted as well.Thats our leader, one of the key components of our team, fullback Mike Tolbert said. Its more than that. Hes a brother of ours, so when we see him down, a guy thats as tough as he is and as mighty and strong spirited as he is, to see him in that predicament, it really hits home.The Panthers already were without outside linebacker A.J. Klein, who suffered a concussion last week.Kuechly was one of several key players injured Thursday night, along with Kalil?and Saints running back Mark Ingram (possible concussion) in the third quarter.Kalil had missed two straight games with an injury to his right shoulder. It wasnt immediately clear which shoulder was injured Thursday.Ingram was injured on a 13-yard run when he collided with Coleman?as he went down. Ingram lay on the ground for a few seconds before getting up and walking off slowly. Later, he headed to the locker room to be evaluated for a possible concussion.Information from ESPN staff writer Mike Triplett and The Associated Press was used in this report. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Cheap Shoes Sale Online . PAUL, Minn. http://www.cheapshoesfastshipping.com/ . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Cheap Discount Shoes Online . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Cheap Shoes Free Shipping . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. WASHINGTON -- Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker took a chance using closer Jonathan Papelbon for a third consecutive day. It didnt work out.Papelbon allowed four runs in the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres secured a 10-6 victory over the Nationals on Sunday.Not to make excuses, I dont like to use my closer three days in a row and this is three days in a row for Pap, Baker said. But we didnt have a choice. The ball wasnt coming out today the way it had been since he came back from the injury.Papelbon (2-3), who hadnt pitched on three consecutive days since May 29-31, insisted he was not tired.San Diego won two of three against Washington to earn its first series victory over the Nationals since May 2011. Ryan Buchter (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the victory.Alex Dickerson and Ryan Schimpf hit back-to-back homers off Shawn Kelley in the eighth to tie it before the ninth-inning outburst.With the game tied at 6, Wil Myers drew a one-out walk off Papelbon and moved to second on a wild pitch before Yangervis Solartes RBI single. The Padres added two more singles to load the bases, setting up Alexei Ramirezs three-run double.I think just location, Papelbon said. Coming in there, a situation where weve got to preserve everything we can, and every pitch matters in that situation. One pitch away from getting out of that. Boiled down to missed location on Solarte and he was able to just get enough barrel on the ball to have that one drop right in front of (outfielder Michael A.) Taylor. Once that happened, kind of the same thing happened with the nexxt few hitters.dddddddddddd.Baker then relieved Papelbon, who was booed after giving up his first runs since June 12. Papelbon had made seven scoreless appearances since returning from the disabled list earlier this month.Washington recalled top prospect Lucas Giolito before the game. The right-hander, making his third career start, gave up four runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings, then was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse along with outfielder Michael A. Taylor after the loss.Wilson Ramos homered and had three RBI for the Nationals.WERTH EXTENDS ON-BASE STREAKWashington outfielder Jayson Werth extended his on-base streak to 28 games with a walk in the first inning. It is the longest active streak in the majors and a game shy of the longest streak of Werths career.GLOVER OPTIONEDWashington optioned RHP Koda Glover to Triple-A Syracuse. Glover pitched two scoreless innings for the Nationals last week in his first major league action.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: The team said RHP Aaron Barrett, who underwent Tommy John surgery in September, suffered a right elbow fracture Friday and will have surgery Monday.UP NEXTPadres: San Diego begins the final stop on a 10-game road trip when it opens a three-game series against Toronto on Monday. Colin Rea (5-4, 5.01) faces the Blue Jays for the first time.Nationals: Gio Gonzalez (6-8, 4.53) starts Tuesday at Cleveland as Washington begins a nine-game road trip after playing 15 of its last 19 at home. ' ' '
